Intel isn’t content to cede any portion of the CPU market to
rival AMD and to compete on all fronts -- including the OLPC market -- Intel
plans to develop a new CPU architecture.

No current Intel processors fit the specifications for the one
laptop per child notebook program (OLPC), so Intel is designing a new
processor specifically for the ultra-low cost laptop category where the AMD 433MHz
Geode LX-700 reigns king.

Few specifications on the new Intel architecture are known
at this time, other than it will be cheap and aimed at the specifications of
the AMD processor currently being used in the OLPC system. Yahoo! News
is reporting that Intel considered using existing mobile processors
including modified versions of the Celeron M and the upcoming Silverthorne
processors, which were specifically designed for mobile systems.

Those processors were ruled out because Intel says the small
size, low cost and low power consumption required by the OLPC laptop are unique
enough to warrant a new architecture. While Intel processors aren’t powering
the official OLPC, Intel parts are used in similar systems including the Classmate
PC and the ASUS Eee.

The ASUS Eee PC will be shipping soon and is going to be sold through Newegg.com and Best Buy. That system features a
7-inch screen and should be quite power efficient. However, the retail price
for the system is more than the target cost of the OLPC, which originally was
aiming at a $100 price tag.